The present invention generally pertains to software applications that facilitate the tracking of corporate finances. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a relational chart of accounts with support for providing an efficient and effective response to an addition, elimination or inactivation of a dimension.
Most corporate accounting software, including most Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software applications, is configured to support conformance with some level of standardized accounting practices. Many solutions include a chart of accounts. Generally speaking, a chart of accounts is a listing of accounts associated with a general ledger. Different types of businesses will have different accounts. Each account typically includes some sort of identifier such as a reference number.
Certain systems support the use of dimensions to attribute characteristics to recorded information. For example, some systems support an association of a posted transaction with one or more dimensions (e.g., a responsible department or region) in addition to an account number. Some systems incorporate at least one dimension for all entries to the general ledger. Typically, dimensions are utilized as a customized basis to support any of a variety of analytical functions such as reporting or budgeting.
Some systems will include a relational chart of accounts that lists each general ledger account with zero or more dimensions. At least because relationships within business organizations can be ever changing and complex to conceive, it becomes desirable to configure a system to support the assignment of dimensions in a way that they can grow and change as the underlying business grows and changes. A system should at least support the efficient and effective addition of a new dimension, or modification to an existing dimension or inactivation of an existing dimension.
For many known accounting systems, once the determination of the chart of accounts is set, it is neither simple nor efficient to effectuate a change. Some systems even require a complete re-implementation of the chart of accounts thereby requiring execution of a separate program specially customized for such a task. In many cases, a dimension cannot be added, removed or inactivated without sacrificing the ability to manipulate financial data based on the dimension configuration prior to the adjustment.